Internal-combustion engine



Dec. 28 1926.

C. E. LUCKE INTERNAL COMBUSTION ENGINE 2 Sheets-Sheet 1 Filed July 25,1921 fill /////4 4/1 W Patented Dec. 28, 1926. v

UNITED STATES v 1,612,591 PATENT OFFICE.

CHARLES E. LUCKE, OF NEW YORK, N. Y.,

ASSIGNOR TO WORTEINGTON PUMP AND MACHINERY CORPORATION, OF NEW YORK. N.Y., A CORPORATION OF VIRGINIA.

INTERNAL-COMBUSTION ENGINE.

Application filed July 25,

This invention relates to improvements in piston and cylinder heads forinternal combustion engines,

Internal combustion engines of large size,

and especially Diesel oil engines, require piston and cylinder headsstrong enough to resist high internal pressures, and of suchconstruction as not to be injured by a high rate of heating even afterlong service. The

pressures in the combustion chamber to.

which such piston and cylinder heads may be subjected may rise as highas 1000 lbs. per square inch and the rate of heat transmission whichthey may be expected to endure will often be much in excess of thepractice in the most severely heated sections of steam boilers.

In my invention the metal wall of the piston or cylinder head which isdirectly subjected to the highheat and pressure of the combustionchamber is made as thin as possible in order to transmit the heat atthe. required rate without rising to a temperature which would injuresuch wall, and, r in order to provide suflicient strength to resist thehigh pressures to which it is subjected, the thin wall is made ofwrought metal, while the structure of the piston or cylinder head issuch as to support the thin 3 pressure-receiving wall so as to preventdistortion thereof, and at the same time provide a space for coolingwater. By such a construction I provide a body of cooling water in thepiston or cylinder head separated from the combustion space by a verythin metal wall, whereby the temperature of the wall is maintained lowenough to prevent injury to the metal, and I provide the necessarystrength of wall to prevent distortion by using wrought metal for thethin-wall and suitably supporting or bracingkit'. The ductility of thewrought metal, that is to say, forged or rolled metal, is P such thatit.will stand elongation within its elastic. limits without injury, andin my nvention'I' utilize this property.

By providing a piston head and a cylinder head whichwill successfullywithstand high temperatures it becomes possible to raise the temperaturelimit now fixed in practice for, internal' combustion enginesand'thereby to obtain an increased rating or horse power per cylinderfor the sizes of engines now constructed, so that there results not onlya lower cost but a less weight per ilk 1921. Serial No. 487,259.

than heretofore possible. Up to this time Diesel engines havingcylinders larger than 36 inches in diameter have not been successful,principally because of the failures of the heads. This difficulty isovercome by the present invention, so that internal combustion enginesparticularly of the Diesel type and with cylinders larger than 36 inchesdiameter become practical for ship work thereby materially enlarging thefield in which said engines may be employed in marine navi ation.

Cylinder l aeads embodying the invention are particularly applicable foraerial englnes as it is possible to employ a light metal such asaluminum or light alloys for the cast members of the head and provide avery thin rolled steel wall for contact with the hot gases, the thinsteel wall being united with the aluminum casting so as to form oneunitary structure as, for example, by welding or soldering the steel tothe aluminum. In this way there is obtained a strong, removable cylinderhead of relative light weight and capable of successfully withstandingtemperatures higher than those now encountered in aerial enginework.

The invention will be more particularly described in connection with theaccompanying drawings, and then pointed out hereinafter.

In the drawings:

Fig. 1 is a section on the line 1-1, Fig. 2, through. a cylinder headembodying my invention, the valves and their cages being omitted;

Fig. 2, a section on the line 22, Fig. 1;

Fig. 3, a section on the line 3-3, Fig. 1;

Fig, 4:, a section on the line 44, Fig. 2;

Fig. as section of a piston head embodying my invention; 1

Fig. 6,.a sectionon the line 66 of Fig. 5.

Fig. 7 is a section of another form of cylinder. head embodyingmy-invention; and

Fig. 8 is. a section of the same on the 'line 88, Fig. 7.

Referring to the drawings,-and particularly Figs. 1 'to 4 inclusive, Aindicates a cylinder wall and B the cylinder water jacket of an internalcombustion en 'ne. The cylinder head is held to the cylin er in ansuitable way. In the example illustrate long bolts C areprovided,flwhich extend through suitable, 0 'enings in the cylinder downto any. suita 1e part of the engine,

not shown, nutsc being provided in -conof circular andradial bracingmembers. In

the present example the circularmembers are arranged concentrically witheach other, with their axis-passing through the center of thehemisphere. The inner circular member is indicated at F and the outerone at F,,. The radial members, in the example illustrated, comprisediametrically arranged membersIF, and a series of outer members F,located between the outer circular member F and the dome E.

At the junction of inner circular member F with a radial member F thereis a tube Gr for the reception of a fuel spra ing device, not shown. Asimilar tube 2 is lo cated at the-junction of one of the diametricalmembers F and the outer circular member F This tube may be used forconnection of an air-starting valve or of an indicator of the type ofthe steam-engine indicator for giving diagrams of operation.

To the outside of the domeE are secured a plurality of stirrups orhollow ribs H, Figs. 3 and 4, through which pass the tie bolts C. Thedome E and the other parts hereinbefore described are enclosed in acasing comprising side walls I flanged inward at the part next thecylinder, as indicated at i, Fig. 4, and a cap or lidI.

The head is rovided with what may be designated as -connections arrangedto receive valve cages for the air-inlet and the exhaust valves,respectively. In the particular example illustrated the T-connection forthe exhaust valve is shown as somewhat larger than that for theair-inlet valve and comprises a tubular part K= having a reduceddiameter at its end next the cylinder, thus providing a shoulderindicated at k which serves as a seat for the valve cage.

The tubular part K has its axis parallel to the axis of the cylinder andmay be designated as the axial portion of the T-connection. To thisportion K is connected a lateral tubular portion K which is the outletfor the exhaust gases.

The T-connection for the inlet valve has its axial portion indicated atK and its lateral portion at K,,.' The two outer ends of the lateralportions K and K, are inserted through ho es in a flange plate L wherebythey are retained at the proper distance apart and whereby'they may bereadily connected to suitable pi ing, not shown, for

'the*air supply and ex aust discharge.

Inmaking the cylinder head hereinbefore described, two separateT-connections are first inserted in place in the dome E and welded tothe dome both at its top and at its side by electric arc welding oroxy-acetylene welding. The brace members F to F inclusive, as well asthe tubes G and G are built as a separate unit or spider, the partsbeing welded together by the same type of welding as mentioned above.\Vith the dome E upside'down, the said separate unit or spider is slidinto place around the axial portions K, K and is welded to the dome andto said axial portion at such places as can be reached conveniently bythe are or 'oxy acetylene' process.

. The hollow ribs H are then welded to the outside of the dome E. Thecasing I is then put in place and welded to the dome along the line ofjunction the flange i with the outside edgeof the dome E. Then the wallmember D is put in place and welded to the inner rabbetted edge of thedome E and to the inner ends of the axial portions K, K of theT-connections. The cap or cover plate I may then be put in place andwelded to the casing I. The flange plate L is then placed on the ends ofthe lateral extensions K K and welded to them. Thisgives a strongwater-jacketed cylinder head which may be held to the cylinder bysuitable bolts and nuts such as C, 0.

In the particular construction shown in the drawings, the flange a ofthe casing I is provided with suitable water passages or holes asindicated in Fig. 4;, whereby the water space around the cylinder is putin communication with the water space in the cylinder head. Also thedome E and the various bracing members F, to F may be provided withsuitable openings or perfos rations to allow the water to circulatefreely through the head.

In Figs. 5 and 6 I have illustrated one form of piston head constructionfor gasengines embodying my invention. In this construction the wallmember which separates the combustion chamber of the engme from a waterjacket is the thin wall indicated at D. This is made of thin wroughtmetal and is flanged as shown atkl It rests upon and is welded toacylindrical body 0 suitable metal, most advantageously cast iron, asindicated at M, Fi 5. The piston body M is formed of sufiicientthickness to sustainthe compressive strains to which it may be submittedand to carry the packing rings M.

The piston rod N is shown as hollo-w and preferably has two ducts, asindicated at n, 12,, for the circulation of cooling water to theinterior of the piston. The cooling water is supplied to the piston rodin any of the wellknown ways (not shown). The end of the piston rod towhich the piston head is connected is flanged as indicated at N and thisflange fits within the piston body M, to which it is fixed by welding.

Between the wall D of the piston and the flange M, is arranged the meansfor bracingthe wall D. In the present example this means comprises aplurality of concentric members P P P which are braced laterally by webmembers Q, Q suitably welded in place.

The members P to P inclusive, and the web-members Q, and Q inclusive,are provided with openings for the passage of the circulating water.

InFigs. 7 and 8 I have shown another embodiment of the invention,wherein the dome E is omitted and the cover plate or lid so'dimensionedand braced that it may itself carry the thrust of the gas pressure onthe wrought metal wall. In the best embodiment of this form of theinvention the cover plate 1,, the wall I and its flange 2' may be ofcast metal, the wall plate D otthin rolled sheet steel being weldedtothe flan e z',. Furthermore, in carrying out this mo ification in itssimplest form, the bracing members for bracing the wall-plate D may beribs east integralwith the cover late 1,, as indicated at F Figs. 7 and8. inally, if desired, the cover plate I with its bracing ribs F and thewall I with its flange 2', may all be cast in one piece, the thinwrought metal wall plate D then being secured to the flange 2', bywelding.

From the above description it will be clear that in my invention thereis provided a head in which only thin wrought metal comes in contactwiththe hot gases.

What I- claim is:

1. A head to receive the axial thrust of the pressure in the combustionspace of an internal combustion engine, saidhead having a water-tightwater-space and a relativeand a rigid abutment member against which saidthin members react.

2. A piston head having a water-tight water-space and a relatively thinwrought metal wall arranged to contact on one side with the water in thewater space and to contact on the other side with hot gases in thecombustion space, said head having a body of cast metal comprising anend and a cylindrical portion to which the thin metal wall is welded,said cast metal body being arranged to carry the packin rings, said headalso having means for racing said thin wrought metal wall againstpressure due to said gases, said bracing means com prising a pluralityof members of perforated thin wrought metal located in the waterspaceand arranged to transmit the pressure on the said thin wall to the endof the cast body.

3. A piston-head having a water-ti ht water space and a relatively thinwroug tmetal wall arranged to contact on one side with the waterdn thewater-space and to contact on the other side with hot gases in thecombustion space, said head having a body of cast metal comprising anend and a cylindrical portion to which the thin metal wall is welded,said cast metal body being arranged to carry the packing rings, saidhead also having means for bracing said thin wrou lit-metal wall againstpressure due to suit? gases, said bracing means comprising a pluralityof concentric cylindrical members of perforated thin wrought-metal.

located --in the water-space and arranged to transmit the pressure onthe said thin wall to the end of the castv body.

In testimony whereof, I have hereunto set my hand. I

. CHARLES E. LUCKE.

